Founded by antislavery abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism (read more about us here).
Historic contributors include W.E.B. Du Bois, Willa Cather, James Agee, Hannah Arendt, James Baldwin, Gore Vidal, Sylvia Plath, Martin Luther King Jr., Hunter S. Thompson, Lillian Hellman, Kurt Vonnegut, Edward Said, John Leonard, and Molly Ivins. The Nation’s contemporary writers include Naomi Klein, John Nichols, Eric Foner, Patricia Williams, Katha Pollitt, Marilynne Robinson, William Deresiewicz, Eric Alterman, Walter Mosley, Ralph Nader, Melissa Harris-Perry, Christopher Hayes, Bill McKibben, Joan Walsh, Mychal Denzel Smith, Dave Zirin, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and Calvin Trillin.
Our editorial internship program offers two internship sessions per year. Editorial interns experience a comprehensive immersion into The Nation and TheNation.com’s editorial processes. Interns’ primary responsibilities include fact-checking for the magazine and website, providing research support to Nation writers and editors, and assisting with production on TheNation.com. Interns are not expected to arrive with fact-checking or digital media experience and will be extensively trained in those areas, though a familiarity with The Nation and the range of issues we cover is essential. All interns are based at the magazine’s office in New York City.
Interns also participate in educational seminars with journalists, academics, and activists who come by our offices to speak to interns about their work. Recent guests have included Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner, author Vivian Gornick, critic Emily Nussbaum, and writer/academic Melissa Harris-Perry. Interns are encouraged to suggest people they would like to come in and speak with the group.
The internship is full-time, five days a week. (Interns work 35 hours per week.)
Compensation and Credit: Interns are paid $15 per hour, $525 per week.
Application Procedure
Applicants must submit the following:
- A cover letter that explains why you want to work for The Nation. Please mention Nation writers you follow and/or Nation pieces you’ve enjoyed.
- A resume.
- Two letters of recommendation with contact information for the referees included. Letters may be emailed directly by recommenders to Miguel Salazar at msalazar@thenation.com, or may be uploaded with the rest of your application materials.
- Answers to the application questions.
The application process for the Winter/Spring 2020 internship program is now open. Apply here.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications submitted through postal mail or email will not be considered. All application materials become the property of The Nation. Please address all queries to msalazar@thenation.com. No phone calls, please.
Deadlines and Duration of Program
Winter/Spring 2020:
Application deadline: October 8, 2019
Notification deadline: November 8, 2019
Program duration: January 7 – July 3, 2020
Please note: Unfortunately, we are unable to offer a summer-only internship.
The Nation is an equal-opportunity employer.
